Bengal registered an edge-of-the-seat victory, successfully chasing 303 in the fourth innings against defending champions Railways in Kolkata on Friday to set up a semi-final clash against Baroda.
It is the first time in four years that Bengal have managed to reach the last four.
Chasing 303 in 53 overs, Bengal reached 306 for five wickets with one ball to spare. There were scenes of jubiliations as Manoj Tewari lofted Murali kartik over long-off for a boundary to reach the target.
Cricket Association of Bengal President Jagmohan Dalmiya announced cash awards of Rs. 1.5 lakh for the team and Rs 25,000 each for Abhishek Jhunjhunwala for his brilliant 139 and Subhomoy Das for a superb 83 to set up tone for the victory.
Railways declared their second innings at 321 for six just an over after lunch, setting Bengal a steep but possible target.
Bengal opened with Sourashish Lahiri and Shiv Sunder Das and that set the tone of the match. Lahiri departed after a run-a-ball 24, but Subhomoy Das and Abhishek Jhunjhunwala had other ideas.
Das played a brilliant and matured 83 off 122 balls with six boundaries and one six, while Abhishek was in a belligerent mood sending the Railways bowlers on a leather hunt.
His century came off 106 balls with 15 fours and a six and when he departed he had almost completed the job. His 139 coming of just 135 deliveries and was studded with 20 boundaries and a power packed six.
Scorecard
Railways 1st Innings 259
Bengal 1st innings 278
Railways 2nd innings
A Pagnis c Dasgupta b Paul 103
S Bangar b Lahiri 15
JP Yadav lbw b Paul 16
S Khanolkar c Dasgupta b Paul 47
Raja Ali c Shukla b Lahiri 25
Y Goud c Dasgupta b Paul 55
V Saxena not out 24
M Kartik not out 11
Extras: (b 12, lb 8, w 3, nb 2) 25
Total: (6 wickets dec, 75 overs, 326 mins) 321
Fall of wickets: 1/45, 2/97, 3/190, 4/207, 5/241, 6/303
Bowling: Paul 26 1 103 4, Bose 13 2 62 0, Singh 10 1 42 0, Lahiri 23 1 85 2, Tiwary 2 0 4 0, Jhunjhunwala 1 0 5 0
Bengal 2nd innings (target: 303 runs)
S Lahiri lbw b Yadav 24
S Das c sub (SK Sahu) b Kartik 83
A Jhunjhunwala c Khanolkar b Kartik 139
M Tiwary not out 27
D Dasgupta run out (Khanolkar) 0
L Shukla lbw b Parida 6
R Gavaskar not out 0
Extras: (b 10, lb 8, nb 9) 27
Total: (5 wickets, 52.5 overs, 214 mins) 306
Fall of wickets: 1/35, 2/252, 3/279, 4/280, 5/293
Bowling: Yadav 7 2 17 1, Harvinder Singh 5 0 44 0, Kartik 20.5 2 100 2, Parida 16 1 90 1, Bangar 4 0 37 0
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